Incline Shoot'em up goodness (review and discuss)

[Silentstorm]

Hmm, tried Gynoug and noticed options and holy crap, i guess they made Gynoug and Gleylancer be great for newbies or people who just don't want to memorize, there are cheats options, including being invencible or not depowering after dying once, stuff like that, you have to go to the cheats menu though, just suprised these options are there, you can basically decide how strong you are and maybe you can even select how many lives you start with.

Again, not obligatory, but man, some people would kill for a non-depower after death cheat for some classic games, but yeah, just playing the classic Genesis way as it's meant to be, wonder if there are achievements for that or making things easier on yourself?

Also, Gynoug is good...just that, nice soundtrack but nothing stellar and i feel like the aesthetic really makes up for a lot since you play as a knight angel and the bosses can be a sight, i guess it's there for people who want a fantasy themed shooter with no moe anime looks.

I will say, the devs at least are cool in that they port the games to everything and give options to change the games...and cheats i guess, but yeah, Gynoug so far is more carried by it's visuals than the actual game itself.

 

[Falksi]

Hmm, tried Gynoug and noticed options and holy crap, i guess they made Gynoug and Gleylancer be great for newbies or people who just don't want to memorize, there are cheats options, including being invencible or not depowering after dying once, stuff like that, you have to go to the cheats menu though, just suprised these options are there, you can basically decide how strong you are and maybe you can even select how many lives you start with.

Again, not obligatory, but man, some people would kill for a non-depower after death cheat for some classic games, but yeah, just playing the classic Genesis way as it's meant to be, wonder if there are achievements for that or making things easier on yourself?

Also, Gynoug is good...just that, nice soundtrack but nothing stellar and i feel like the aesthetic really makes up for a lot since you play as a knight angel and the bosses can be a sight, i guess it's there for people who want a fantasy themed shooter with no moe anime looks.

I will say, the devs at least are cool in that they port the games to everything and give options to change the games...and cheats i guess, but yeah, Gynoug so far is more carried by it's visuals than the actual game itself.

Yeah, I never took to Gynoug even back in the day. I wanted to, I was blown away by some of the art, but it just didn't grab me.

SO many amazing SHMUPS on that system though. Don't stick with it too long if you're not enjoying it. There are far better to indulge in.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Crimzon Clover World EXplosion has been released on Steam (it had only been released on Switch previously).

It has all the content of the previous release (World Ignition) plus a new arrange mode that has a Gradius-like powerup system. I got a pretty good discount for owning World Ignition (I think it was 50%), so it came out as peanuts.

I'm still amazed it was made by one single guy (Clover-TAC), who is an amazing shmup player and holds many CAVE records. The soundtrack is amazing, too (and you get arrange versions which are a bit weaker but still kick ass)

Crimzon Clover is easily the best recent shmup I've played. Buy it, play it and get ready to DOUBLE BREAK!

 

[Morenatsu.]

Crimzon Clover is overrated, the soundtrack is boring and the graphics are badly pixelated and hard to read. Never liked it at all. Play a real Cave game.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Crimzon Clover is overrated, the soundtrack is boring and the graphics are badly pixelated and hard to read. Never liked it at all. Play a real Cave game.

Well, regardless of your personal opinion - which I strongly disagree with - that's just not practical advice at all.

First, the 3 Cave games that were ported to PC are very inaccurate in regards to timing/slowdown. Mushi (which, although a great game on its own, is significantly inferior to Mushi Futari, which will in all likelihoood never get ported), Deathsmiles and DDP DFK all have inaccurate timings, something that makes them much harder for people who try to play for 1CC/score, or even those who merely care about creator's intent.

These ports are based on the 360 versions, which were in turn not perfect. Mushi Futari is probably the best home port of all CV1000 games (developed by M2), they seem to have approached it on a single-case basis and dialed in the slowdown to approximate the original hardware quirks as best as possible. The Deathsmiles 360 JP port (not the US release) is also pretty accurate (at least in regular 360 mode, the MBL modes are fucked). The Steam port resembles the US 360 release, which is bad.

The issue stems from the fact that the current emulation driver for the original hardware - the CV1000B/D boards (which powered all Cave games from 2004 (Mushi) onwards) - doesn't implement what are called "wait states". This affects emulation of some other games as well (for example SF2 Turbo and Hyper SF2) where the hardware on the board can't respond at the full speed of the CPU - so, a bus issue. These games originally run unthrottled code, like pushing f10 on Mame. It's not a problem for the vast, vast majority of games because their timing follows the video refresh. In addition, the original Cave games also manipulate CPU speed on the fly.

Recent Mame releases have featured a special setting for these Cave games (Blitter delay), but it's experimental and needs to be dialed in manually for each game, together with underclocking CPU speed (which must be enabled via cheat in the .ini). Although some people have been experimenting with values, it's very much guesswork and at best a (very) rough approximation of the original, and besides, these dialed-in values are static and not dynamic, like happened with original hardware - i.e. the game could speed up and slow down either the CPU or blitter effects on the fly, and developers used that to adjust the speed of bullet patterns in countless individual situations throughout each game.

There's no way around it - if you play these later Cave games (regardless of version, or emulation), you're playing imperfect versions that deviate significantly from the creator's original intent, to varying degrees.

That's fine if you just want to credit feed through them, or if the idea of playing something other than the developers intended doesn't bother you. However, it very much bothers me and many other people.

If you meant playing previous Cave games (DDP, DDP DOJ, etc.), they emulate much better - however, none of them are available on Steam, so again, not very practical - and highly situational - advice. You can buy a very good port of Ketsui (called Deathtiny, developed by M2) on PS4, but it costs 35 USD and I doubt most people would be willing to pay that much for it, even if it's the best version of a very good shmup - perhaps even one of Cave's best. Also, I don't think that many people on the Codex even have a PS4. You can also play very good ports of the first Espgaluda and DDP DOJ on the PS2 (those are very accurate and have a true 240p mode).

Crimzon Clover plays exactly as the developer intended. It started its life as a PC game, and was coded by the same guy. I happen to think it's just as good as the best Cave games, but regardless of opinion, when you play it you can be sure that you're playing an accurate version of the game, and it costs peanuts. I don't see how anyone who's even remotely interested in shmups could ignore it.

 

[Lutte]

The 360 versions weren't perfect but a few like DDPDFK introduced really worthwhile gameplay modes that stand on their own as games. In fact I much prefer Ketsuipatchi mode over any of the original DFK modes.

you're playing imperfect versions that deviate significantly from the creator's original intent,

Bah, people have made comparison videos of the arcade versions and the blitter delay modes and while there's differences that would mean that people shouldn't use emulator gameplay in arcade scoring boards it's not deviating to the point of being unrecognizable or unplayable. You wouldn't have to "credit feed" either unless you're playing with zero slowdown simulation. Someone who just plays for the fun of achieving a 1cc in a fun game will have a good time there, the people screeching are those who want to have emulator leaderboards merged with real arcade players. I somehow doubt there's anyone in this thread who even comes close to giving a shit about the 0.01% of the player base good enough to compete in a leaderboard.

If you meant playing previous Cave games (DDP, DDP DOJ, etc.), they emulate much better - however, none of them are available on Steam, so again, not very practical - and highly situational - advice.

Dude you just wrote a wall of autism yet something not being on steam makes it unpractical? google is too hard these days? are you even listening to yourself talking? Using emulators isn't rocket science. Not to mention, using emulation is an absolute must for anyone who even cares about shmups in the first place, aside from a few like the cave cv1k that have a few emu quirks, most of the great shmups in this world are available in emulation. If you don't emulate you miss out on a significant amount of games, and even among the games released as ports on Steam and consoles you would end up with the worse versions, some shmups on steam were released with more input lag than there is in good emulators. The psikyo ports are all dogshit. Cotton on switch has 11 frames of input lag (what in the shit) and so on. There's good ports out there too, but one needs to be really careful before buying anything.
Meanwhile emulation mostly just works, you don't spend a dime and if something ends up not working you don't regret wasting money on something that doesn't even pay the original developers since they all left the companies that made the games.

Edit: anyway, since this was butthurt generated from Crimzon Clover being dissed, my own take on CC: it's really good gameplay in an unappealing package. The visuals are too spammy even by bullet hell standards, the dev would have wasted less time of his life not making backgrounds since they're useless as you barely see any of it, the sound design is meh and much of what makes shmups enthralling has as much to do with the sensory experience as it has to do with game design. I don't go back to shmups with garbage music much. Meanwhile I'll spend hundreds of hours in any of the Darius just fine. CC's fat medal spams really gives me eye cancer too.
It's a game worth experiencing a few times, and it's impressive for a one man show (one dude did everything from the programming to sound and visuals) but it's very, very far from being the end all be all of the bullet hell genre.
HhBMsM6.jpg (640×615) (imgur.com)

Might as well replace all the models with basic shapes and the background with fillbackground(#000000) nothing of value would have been lost.

 

[Great Deceiver]

There's no butthurt really, but the "JUST PLAY REAL CAVE LOL" drive-by is counterproductive, which is why I wrote what I wrote.

I've been emulating games for longer than many on these boards have been alive, so I wouldn't speak out against it - in fact, I think I'm most active in the emulator topic here on the Codex. I think most of my playtime these days is spent on emulation.

 

[Lutte]

Could've replaced that with pretty much any shmup dev. I'd recommend Qute a billion times over this visual mess. I'd play pretty much anything over going back to CC.

 

[Morenatsu.]

What the hell was all that about? The game plays fine enough, but it's a terrible eyesore with no particularly appealing characteristics. It wins by default just for existing, I assume. But Cave games are all very clear and readable to me, whereas CC might just be the most visually distracting thing ever. Which, in a shooting game, is quite bad, you know.

Just use Mame lol. Oh no muh CV1000 slowdown, it's not frame perfect, whatever shall I do. Well, it's not like the games were actually made with specific, consistently, deliberately activated slowdown, were they? It's a reaction of the hardware that they took advantage of, and in that it was an imperfect way of doing things in the first place. Set the emulation to whatever the closest settings are supposed to be, it's not like the official ports are perfectly accurate either. What's next, don't play if you don't own the PCB? Don't be a bitch.

Raizing is superior, anyway.

 

[Silentstorm]

Didn't mind Crimzon Clover when i played it, but comparing it to CAVE isn't exactly fair, one is a indie game, the other is a great developer that has done amazing games over the years and has more of a budget, staff and expertise.

Also, not my favorite indie shmup either, would rather play something like ZeroRanger instead, or something like Blue Revolver too.

 

[Morenatsu.]

It's always fair to say that indie games are inferior. Got a problem with that?

 

[Great Deceiver]

Didn't mind Crimzon Clover when i played it, but comparing it to CAVE isn't exactly fair, one is a indie game, the other is a great developer that has done amazing games over the years and has more of a budget, staff and expertise.

Also, not my favorite indie shmup either, would rather play something like ZeroRanger instead, or something like Blue Revolver too.

Different strokes I guess, I don't like ZeroRanger that much although it has been hyped to death. Blue Revolver is cool, but feels much more amateurish than CC imo. In any case, all of these games are worth buying.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Raizing is superior, anyway.

This I can agree with. In addition, the sound emulation is way better for Raizing games.

Mahou Daisakusen might be my favourite shmup ever.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Since I've been playing a lot of stuff on Xenia lately, going to cross-post from the emulation thread:

---

I just discovered something in Xenia Canary that is really cool. I had tried the emulator before to play the M2 ports of Cave shmups (Mushi Futari, Espgaluda 2, Deathsmiles, etc.), and although it ran fine visually, the audio was always enormously delayed, around a second or so.

I decided to try it again tonight on a whim and was looking for some sort of config file, as the emulator doesn't have a config option through its GUI. Sure enough, there is a file called "xenia-canary.config.toml" that gets created in Windows' Documents folder (/user/Documents/Xenia/). You can edit it in any text editor. Inside, there is this variable right at the first block, under [APU]

max_queued_frames = (default is 64)

This is the default audio buffer delay expressed in frames (64 frames is slightly over a second in a 60fps refresh rate). I played around with it and managed to get it down to 3 (!) on my machine. 2 makes the sound glitch out and crackle, but 3 works perfectly. So, as far as I can tell, the audio is nearly perfect at only 3 frames of delay.

I'm not sure if the current mainline build (non-Canary) has this variable.

Another helpful variable to keep in mind is

gpu_allow_invalid_fetch_constants = false

This allows for some things that usually crash the emulator to run (Guwange XBLA, Arrange Mushi Futari, etc.)

I can now enjoy some great ports with properly synced sound. Hopefully this is helpful to some of you as well.

 

[Hag]

Got Ikaruga on sale and played for a couple hours at most, here's my quick take :
- Game doesn't fuck around. Reaching 2nd level boss without continues is difficult and you have little to no time to breath. No mistake allowed either. It's fair but really intense.
- It's well polished, looks great with quality audio. Found one weird clipping (in a place where I would have died anyway) but otherwise is clicks very well. I was not sold on the dual color mechanism but it works flawlessly and allows for limited strategy, mostly for boss battles. Game makes good use of it.
- Would be perfect BUT it gets me slightly nauseous after a few minutes playing. Not sure why, maybe some kind of motion blur or underhand visual effect, or maybe simply too busy for my small brain to parse efficiently. No other game apart from VR ever did me that. So hard pass. Well worth a try anyway.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Got Ikaruga on sale and played for a couple hours at most, here's my quick take :
- Game doesn't fuck around. Reaching 2nd level boss without continues is difficult and you have little to no time to breath. No mistake allowed either. It's fair but really intense.
- It's well polished, looks great with quality audio. Found one weird clipping (in a place where I would have died anyway) but otherwise is clicks very well. I was not sold on the dual color mechanism but it works flawlessly and allows for limited strategy, mostly for boss battles. Game makes good use of it.
- Would be perfect BUT it gets me slightly nauseous after a few minutes playing. Not sure why, maybe some kind of motion blur or underhand visual effect, or maybe simply too busy for my small brain to parse efficiently. No other game apart from VR ever did me that. So hard pass. Well worth a try anyway.

Ikaruga is a neat game, but a lot of it was ruined for me by soyface "journalists" proclaiming it to be the best thing ever and OMG IT'S A PUZZLE GAME. Evidently none of them ever played past the first level, as was par for the course even 20 years ago.

Played a lot of it when it originally came out for the Dreamcast (in glorious tate through the VGA box), own it on Steam, but haven't played in forever.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Been checking out this Japanese wiki that ranks shmups according to difficulty, from 0 (easiest) to 45 (hardest): https://www.wikihouse.com/stg/index.php?STG%A5%E9%A5%F3%A5%AF%B0%EC%CD%F7

An old thread on the shmups forum has a translation:

Spoiler

vvv_stg wrote:
Tried translating the list into English. I should have realized that this list has ~300 entries before trying to do that. I've not done much proofreading so far, and it has quite a few places where specific games left me confused (marked with question marks). Plus I still have very vague idea what section headings are trying to say. But what I have so far might be useful, so here it is:

## Title Goal Notes
45 Dodonpachi Daioujou WL [CAVE, 2002] 2-ALL -3 for International version
44 Mushihimesama Futari [CAVE, 2006] Ultra Ver. 1.5, Abnormal palm
Parodius Da! [Konami, 1990] 2-ALL
Detana!! Twinbee [Konami, 1991] 2-ALL
43 Ketsui [CAVE, 2003] 2-ALL Ura +1 for using Tiger Schwert
Argus [NMK, 1986] 1-ALL
Omega Fighter [UPL, 1989] 2-ALL
Game Tengoku [Jaleco, 1995] 2-ALL with autofire
42 Mushihimesama [CAVE, 2004] Ultra
Sengoku Blade [Psikyo, 1996] 2-ALL with A autofire
Valtric [NMK, 1986] 1-ALL [Area 1-4]
41 Twin Eagle [Seta, 1988] ALL
40 Strikers 1945 [Psikyo, 1995] 2-ALL BF-109・P-51
Xexex [Konami, 1991] 2-ALL
Mystic Riders / Gun Hohki [Irem, 1992] 2-ALL
Shienryu [Warashi, 1997] 2-ALL
Vasara 2 [VISCO, 2001] 天の巻[2-ALL] +3 with Takeda Nobukatsu
39 Dodonpachi [CAVE, 1997] 2-ALL
Strikers 1945 II [Psikyo, 1997] 2-ALL Flying Pancake
Gunbird 2 [Psikyo, 1998] 2-ALL
Pistol Daimyo no Bōken [Namco, 1990] Hardest route
P-47 Aces [NMK, 1995] ALL without autofire; -2 with it
38 Progear no Arashi [CAVE, 2001] 2-ALL
Gunbird [Psikyo, 1994] 2-ALL
37 Dodonpachi Daioujou BL [CAVE, 2002] 2-ALL
Deathsmiles MBL [CAVE, 2007] LV999 [?] +2 for Canyon; +4 for TLB
Dragon Blaze [Psikyo, 2000] 2-ALL
Zero Gunner 2 [Psikyo, 2001] 2-ALL
Mahou Daisakusen [Raizing, 1993] 2-ALL
36 Ketsui [CAVE, 2003] 2-ALL Omote
Strikers 1999 [Psikyo, 1999] 2-ALL with X-36; +4 with other ships
Image Fight [Irem, 1989] 2-ALL no 補習, autofire; +8 for loop 2 penalty areas
Daioh [Athena, 1993] 2-ALL
R-Type 2 [Irem, 1989] 2-ALL no autofire; -2 for autofire; -2 for International version
Viper Phase 1 [old ver.] [Seibu, 1995] ALL no autofire; -6 for autofire
Mushihimesama Futari BL [CAVE, 2007] God mode Reco; -6 if no TLB
35 Battle Garegga [Raizing, 1996] Harder +1 for extended two-loop version
Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu BL [CAVE, 2008] with TLB [???] no autobomb; strong style only
Strikers 1945 Plus [Psikyo, 1999] 2-ALL with Pancake
Space Battleship Gomora [UPL, 1990] with autofire
34 Ikaruga [Treasure, 2001] Hard
Raiden IV [MOSS, 2007] 2-ALL
Zing Zing Zip [Allumer, 1992] 1-ALL as 1P; with autofire
Battlantis [Konami, 1987] 2-ALL
33 Donpachi [CAVE, 1995] 2-ALL -3 for US version; +2 for Hong Kong version
Crimzon Clover [NESiCA] [Yotsubane, 2013] Unlimited using Type-Z
Raiden DX [Seibu, 1994] Practice course, 1-8 with C autofire
USAAF Mustang [NMK, 1990] 1-ALL no autofire; -8 for autofire
32 Trigon [Konami, 1990] 2-ALL with autofire
V-V [Toaplan, 1993] 2-ALL
P-47 [NMK, 1988] 1-ALL no autofire; -5 for autofire
31 Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu [CAVE, 2008] 2-ALL Ura [Strong Style] Ver. 1.5; +4 for Bomb style; +12 for Power style
Dodonpachi Saidaioujou [CAVE, 2012] ALL via Hibachi -11 without Hibachi
Thunder Dragon [NMK, 1991] 1-ALL without autofire; -1 with it
30 Dangun Feveron [CAVE, 1998] ALL via TLB -2 if no TLB; +11 if playing as Uotaro
RayStorm [Taito, 1996] ALL
Gradius III [Konami, 1989] 1-ALL with autofire; weapon type B [+2 for A, +4 for C, +1 for D]; +2 for 2-ALL; +13 for 3-ALL and further
Raiden II [Seibu, 1993] 1-ALL with autofire; +5 without it; -1 for international version
29 R-Type [Irem, 1987] 2-ALL without autofire; -3 with it
Omega Fighter [UPL, 1989] 1-ALL
28 Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu BL [CAVE, 2008] Bomb style, via Hibachi +1 for Power style, +5 for Strong style
Thunder Dragon 2 [NMK, 1993] ALL 2P or 1P with autofire; +6 for 1P without autofire
Ultra Guard [?] [Seta/Banpresto, 1996] ALL without autofire
Deathsmiles [CAVE, 2007] ALL via Extra [LV3] -9 without Extra
27 1944: The Loop Master [8ing, 2000] ALL [1-loop mode]
Shippu Mahou Daisakusen [Raizing, 1994] 2-ALL
Sonic Wings [Video System, 1992] 2-ALL with AJ-37 or IDS; +4 for F-18 or FSX
1943 [Capcom, 1987] ALL [vs. Yamato] without autofire; -8 with it
Viper Phase 1 [new ver.] [Seibu, 1996] ALL without autofire; -3 with it
Strike Gunner S.T.G [Athena, 1991] ALL without autofire; -5 with it
26 Battle Garegga [Raizing, 1996] ALL [1-loop mode] with Golden Bat
Thunder Blaster [Irem, 1991] ALL without autofire; -20 with it
Flak Attack [Konami, 1987] 2-ALL
X-Multiply [Irem, 1989] 2-ALL with autofire
Rezon [Allumer, 1991] ALL
Acrobat Mission [UPL, 1991] ALL
Nostradamus [FACE, 1993] 2P side; with autofire
25 Armed Police Batrider [Raizing, 1998] Advanced course [stage 7 route] [?]
Sokyugurentai [Raizing, 1996] ALL with Toryu
Shienryu [Warashi, 1997] 1-ALL
Space Bomber [Psikyo, 1998] ALL Ver. B
Sexy Parodius [Konami, 1996] ALL via Special stage autofire; -10 if no special stage
Saint Dragon [NMK, 1989] ALL
Radiant Silvergun [Treasure, 1998] ALL [Stage 4 route]
Mars Matrix [Takumi, 2000] ALL
24 Batsugun Special Version [Toaplan, 1994] 4-ALL with C autofire; +5 with C-type
Salamander 2 [Konami, 1995] 2-ALL with autofire
Raiden [Seibu, 1990] 1-ALL with autofire; +2 without it
Same! Same! Same! [Toaplan, 1989] 1-ALL without autofire; -10 with it; -10 for international version
Ibara [CAVE, 2005] ALL 1P side
Muchi Muchi Pork! [CAVE, 2007] 1-ALL
Sengoku Ace [Psikyo, 1993] 2-ALL with Aine; +7 with Kenoumaru
Darius II [Taito, 1989] ALL without autofire; -10 with it
Parodius Da! [Konami, 1990] 1-ALL with autofire
War of Aero [Allumer, 1993] 2-ALL with autofire
Gunbird 2 [Psikyo, 1998] 1-ALL
Sengoku Blade [Psikyo, 1996] 1-ALL
Raiden DX [Seibu, 1994] Practice course, 1-5 with C autofire
Daioh [Athena, 1993] 1-ALL -1 for US version
Air Duel [Irem, 1990] 1-ALL without autofire
Battlantis [Konami, 1987] 1-ALL +2 for International version
Kyukyoku Tiger [Toaplan, 1987] 1-ALL without autofire; -10 with it; -13 for international version
Operation Ragnarok [NMK, 1994] ALL without autofire; -4 with it
Blazing Star [Yumekobo, 1998] ALL without autofire; -1 with it
Dogyuun [Toaplan, 1992] 1-ALL without autofire; -2 with it
Mazinger Z [Banpresto, 1994] 2-ALL without autofire; -2 with it
23 Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu [CAVE, 2008] Omote 2-ALL [Strong style] Ver. 1.5; +2 for Bomb style; +6 for Power style
Mushihimesama Futari [CAVE, 2006] Maniac Ver. 1.5
E.D.F. [Jaleco, 1991] ALL
Under Defeat [G. Rev, 2005] 2-ALL
Gokujou Parodius [Konami, 1994] ALL via Special stage with autofire; -10 if no Special stage
Gradius IV [Konami, 1998] 1-ALL Equipment 5; +1 for 1, +2 for 2 or 6, +4 for 3
Raiden III [MOSS, 2005] ALL
RayForce [Taito, 1993] ALL
Great Mahou Daisakusen [Raizing, 2000] ALL [1-loop mode] with Birthday
In the Hunt [Irem, 1993] ALL
Chariot [Wonder 3] [Capcom, 1991] ALL without autofire
Twin Hawk [Toaplan, 1989] 1-ALL without autofire; -10 with it; -8 for International version [-15 with autofire]
22 Dodonpachi Daioujou WL [CAVE, 2002] 1-ALL
Crimzon Clover [NESiCA] [Yotsubane, 2013] Original with Type-Z
Espgaluda II [CAVE, 2005] ALL +4 for Shin Seseri
Radiant Silvergun [Treasure, 1998] ALL [Stage 2 route]
Giga Wing 2 [Takumi, 2000] ALL with TLB
Battle Bakraid [Raizing, 1999] Advanced course with F-111B
Dragon Blaze [Psikyo, 2000] 1-ALL
21 Ketsui [CAVE, 2003] 1-ALL [Tiger Schwert]
Strikers 1945 II [Psikyo, 1997] 1-ALL with Hayate
Dodonpachi II [IGS, 2001] with TLB [I.R.]
Castle Shikigami [Alfa System, 2001] ALL
Ikaruga [Treasure, 2001] Normal
Blazeon [Irem, 1992] ALL with autofire; +10 without it
Raiden DX [Seibu, 1994] Expert 1-ALL without 9th stage; with C autofire
Vasara 2 [VISCO, 2001] 天の巻[1-ALL]
Sonic Wings 3 [Video System, 1995] 2-ALL using P61; with autofire
20 Dodonpachi Daioujou BL [CAVE, 2002] 1-ALL +8 for Hibachi
Esprade [CAVE, 1998] ALL
Trouble Witches AC [Studio Siesta, 2009] ALL
Homura [Taito, 2005] ALL
Trigon [Konami, 1990] 1-ALL
Guwange [CAVE, 1999] ALL
Zero Gunner 2 [Psikyo, 2001] 1-ALL
Castle Shikigami 3 [Alfa System, 2006] ALL with Nagino
Strikers 1945 [Psikyo, 1995] 1-ALL
Strikers 1999 [Psikyo, 1999] 1-ALL
Strikers 1945 Plus [Psikyo, 1999] 1-ALL
GigaWing Generations [Takumi, 2004] ALL with TLB
Radirgy [Milestone, 2005] Laser
Tatsujin [Toaplan, 1988] 1-ALL without autofire; -7 with it
Metal Hawk [Namco, 1988] ALL
Ryujin [East Technology, 1993] ALL ignoring power items
V-V [Toaplan, 1993] 1-ALL Bomb mode; -2 for international version
19XX [Capcom, 1996] ALL with or without autofire
19 G-Darius Ver. 2 [Taito, 1997] ALL
Raiden IV [MOSS, 2007] 1-ALL ORIGINAL
Air Gallet [Gazelle, 1996] ALL
Psyvariar 2 [SKONEC, 2003] ALL [no TLB] +13 with TLB
Psyvariar Revision [SKONEC, 2000] ALL [X-A] +12 with TLB
radirgy noa [Milestone, 2009] +1 for true ending
R-Type II [Irem, 1989] 1-ALL
Double Wings [Mitchell, 1993] 1-ALL
18 Mushihimesama [CAVE, 2004] Maniac
Crimzon Clover [NESiCA] [Yotsubane, 2013] Boost
Progear no Arashi [CAVE, 2001] 1-ALL
A-Jax [Konami, 1987] ALL
War of Aero [Allumer, 1993] 1-ALL
Sonic Wings 2 [Video System, 1994] 1-ALL
Heavy Unit [Kaneko, 1988] 1-ALL with autofire
R-Type [Irem, 1987] 1-ALL
Fixeight [Toaplan, 1992] 1-ALL
Image Fight [Irem, 1989] 1-ALL without penalty area; with autofire
Giga Wing [Takumi, 1999] ALL [true ending] true ending [no continues]
Mahou Daisakusen [Raizing, 1993] 1-ALL -5 for international version
17 Mushihimesama Futari BL [CAVE, 2007] Maniac
Dodonpachi [CAVE, 1997] 1-ALL
Gunbird [Psikyo, 1994] 1-ALL
Detana!! Twinbee [Konami, 1991] 1-ALL
Vasara [VISCO, 2000] ALL
Super Dimension Fortress Macross [NMK, 1992] 2-ALL with autofire
Air Buster [Kaneko, 1990]
Darius Gaiden [Taito, 1994] Survival route no autofire; -10 with it
16 Donpachi [CAVE, 1995] 1-ALL
Mushihimesama Futari [CAVE, 2006] Original Ver. 1.5
Espgaluda [CAVE, 2003] ALL
Sol Divide [Psikyo, 1997] 1-ALL
Hishouzame [Toaplan, 1987] 1-ALL
Sonic Wings [Video System, 1992] 1-ALL
RayCrisis [Taito, 1998] ALL with WR-03
Out Zone [Toaplan, 1990] 1-ALL
Fighting Hawk [Taito, 1989] ALL
Dragon Spirit [Namco, 1987] ALL without autofire; -10 with it
Gunnail [NMK, 1993] ALL with autofire; +1 without it
1945k III [Promat, 2000] with Su-37 or Se-11L without exploiting bugs
Stagger 1 [Afega, 1998] with Red Hawk without autofire
15 Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu BL [CAVE, 2008] without Hibachi, Bomb style
Mushihimesama [CAVE, 2004] Original
Guardian Force [SUCCESS, 1998] ALL
Pink Sweets [CAVE, 2006] ALL with infinite lives trick
Gun Frontier [Taito, 1990] ALL with autofire
Galaga 88 [Namco, 1987] ALL
Game Tengoku [Jaleco, 1995] 1-ALL with autofire
Darius [Taito, 1986] ALL [?]; +1 for EX
plus alpha [Jaleco, 1989] 1-ALL without autofire
Border Down [G. Rev, 2003] ALL [6A] +3 for B and D; +2 for C
Under Defeat [G. Rev, 2005] 1-ALL
R-Type Leo [Irem, 1992] ALL
X-Multiply [Irem, 1989] 1-ALL with autofire
Zero Wing [Toaplan, 1989] 1-ALL +4 for no autofire; +7 for 2-ALL; +30 for 3-ALL and higher; -3 for international version
Mystic Riders / Gun Hohki [Irem, 1992] 1-ALL
Terra Cresta [Nichibutsu, 1985] 1-ALL
14 Dariusburst AC EX [Taito, 2011] ALL [route QUZ]
Sand Scorpion [FACE/Sankindou, 1992] 1-ALL with autofire
G-Darius [Taito, 1997] ALL [zone U] with autofire
Shippu Mahou Daisakusen [Raizing, 1994] 1-ALL
Xexex [Konami, 1991] 1-ALL +6 for international version
Thunder Force AC [Technosoft, 1990] ALL without autofire; -4 with it
Viewpoint [SNK, 1992] ALL
13 Mushihimesama Futari BL [CAVE, 2007] Original
Space Bomber [Psikyo, 1998] ALL Ver. B played as tetris block
Akai Katana [CAVE, 2010] ALL
Ikaruga [Treasure, 2001] Easy
TwinBee [Konami, 1985] 1-ALL [5 stages] ignoring power items
Carrier Air Wing [Capcom, 1990] ALL without autofire; -5 with it
Sonic Wings 3 [Video System, 1995] 1-ALL using P61; with autofire
Raiden DX [Seibu, 1994] Novice with C autofire
12 Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu [CAVE, 2008] 1-ALL [Strong style] Ver. 1.5; +2 for Bomb style; +5 for Power style
Raiden IV [MOSS, 2007] LIGHT
Batsugun [Toaplan, 1994] ALL
Xevious [Namco, 1982] 1-ALL
Dragon Saber [Namco, 1990] ALL
Triggerheart Exelica [Warashi, 2006]
Strato Fighter [Tecmo, 1990] 2-ALL
Side Arms [Capcom, 1986] ALL without autofire
Sengoku Ace [Psikyo, 1993] 1-ALL with Aine
Metal Black [Taito, 1991] ALL without autofire; -5 with it
Area 88 [Capcom, 1989] ALL without autofire; -5 with it
Tank Force [Namco, 1991] ALL
11 Salamander 2 [Konami, 1995] 1-ALL with autofire
Castle Shikigami 2 [Alfa System, 2003] ALL with Kim
Rapid Hero [NMK, 1994] ALL with autofire
TwinBee Yahho! [Konami, 1995] 1-ALL
Gradius II [Konami, 1988] 1-ALL [weapon type 4] with autofire; +1 for type 3; +2 for type 1 or type 2
Section Z [Capcom, 1985] 1-ALL
Thundercade [Taito, 1987] ALL without autofire; -6 with it
10 Dariusburst AC [Taito, 2010] ALL [route CGL] [?]
1941 [Capcom, 1990] ALL with autofire
Gradius [Konami, 1985] 1-ALL
Ordyne [Namco, 1988] ALL
Phelios [Namco, 1988] ALL with autofire
Megablast [Taito, 1989] ALL with autofire
9 Deathsmiles [CAVE, 2007] No Canyon
Mazinger Z [Banpresto, 1994] 1-ALL
Last Resort [SNK, 1992] 2-ALL with autofire
Raiden Fighters JET [Seibu, 1998] ALL3 [with TLB] with Fairy; +5 with Slave; +15 to +20 for others
Salamander [Konami, 1986] 1-ALL with autofire
8 Thunder Cross II [Konami, 1991] 1-ALL
Life Force [Konami, 1987] 1-ALL 2P side; +1 for 1P
Super Dimension Fortress Macross [NMK, 1992] 1-ALL
Cloud Master [Taito, 1988] ALL
The Last Day [Dooyong, 1990] 1-ALL without autofire; -4 with it
Raiden Fighters [Seibu, 1996] ALL as Slave; +10 to +16 with others
7 Thunder Cross [Konami, 1988] 1-ALL with autofire; +11 for international version
1943 Kai [Capcom, 1987] ALL [vs. Yamato] -5 for Shotgun
Cosmo Gang the Video [Namco, 1991] 1-ALL
Final Star Force [Tecmo, 1992] ALL
6 Dariusburst AC EX [Taito, 2011] ALL [route ORV] [?]
Kyukyoku Tiger II [Takumi, 1996] ALL 1P side; +5 as 2P
5 Dariusburst AC [Taito, 2010] ALL [route ADH] [?]
Deathsmiles II [CAVE, 2009] Survival route
Fantasy Zone [Sega, 1986] ALL autofire
Twinkle Star Sprites [ADK, 1996] ALL
Dragon Breed [Irem, 1989] 1-ALL
Raiden DX [Seibu, 1994] Practice course using radar shot [?]; with C autofire
Strato Fighter [Tecmo, 1990] 1-ALL without autofire; -3 with it
4 Prehistoric Isle 2 [Yumekobo, 1999] ALL -1 with autofire
Terra Force [Nichibutsu, 1987] 1-ALL
Nemesis [Konami, 1985] 1-ALL
Captain Tomaday [VISCO, 1999] ALL
3 Gekirindan [Taito, 1995] ALL 2P side
Insector X [Taito, 1989] Advanced course
Batsugun Special Version [Toaplan, 1994] 1-ALL
Storm Blade [VISCO, 1996] 1-ALL
Vimana [Toaplan, 1991] 1-ALL +2 without autofire
Slap Fight [Toaplan, 1996] 1-ALL [Area 100]
2 Raiden Fighters 2 [Seibu, 1997] ALL [with TLB] with Fairy; +2 with Slave; +18 to +22 with others
Asuka and Asuka [VISCO, 1988] ALL
Fire Barrel [Irem, 1993] 1-ALL with autofire; +4 for 3-ALL
1 Night Raid [Takumi, 2001] ALL by staying in upper left corner; +22 without it
0 Karous [Milestone, 2006] Easy

I've been going from the bottom up to check out some games I've never played before and tonight I tried Air Assault/Fire Barrel, an Irem game from 1993 that resembles Raiden (ship designs, explosions, toothpaste powerup except here it's blue) with a little bit of Fire Shark/1943 thrown in (beach/sea levels, battleship enemies etc).

It's very easy and I would recommend it to anyone trying to get their first 1CC. It's a little bland (although it apes Raiden, it hasn't got that game's grit or crunch), but definitely doable even by absolute beginners after a few tries.

The list has a lot of stuff I disagree with (for example, I don't consider Slap Fight one of the easiest games at all, it's long and requires quite a bit of memorization, Vimana is tough as shit, etc.), but overall it's interesting to go through.

 

[Morenatsu.]

ikaruga is best shmup evar, and number 2 is sine mora

 

[HeatEXTEND]

Radiant Silvergun is best shmup evar, and number 2 DoDonPachi

 

[Morenatsu.]

Uh, no, the ACTUAL best shmup is Battle Garegga, and number 2 is Batrider.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Bought Raiden V during the Steam sale since it's 75% off and wow, what a fucking clunker.

Raiden III was ok, Raiden IV was very good - I expected V to keep up the incline, but it's just bad. The screen is filled with garbage, it's impossible to turn the helper widgets off on both sides of the playfield, there's some dumb twat who won't shut the fuck up (you can set the voice volume to 0 in the options, thankfully) and it's just way, way too long. No proper arcade mode, just a story mode and a boss rush which I haven't tried.

Other problems include bullet visibility (which admittedly is a problem in other Raidens too, but here it's really bad because they blend with the spammy floating score pickups) and overall blandness of the levels. The music is pretty good though, done in Hitoshi Sakimoto bombastic style (reminded me of the Radiant Silvergun OST, maybe Souky and Gradius V too).

Honestly feeling like refunding it even if it was dirt cheap, I don't see myself trudging through it trying to improve.

 

[Silentstorm]

The minute i was gifted a Xbox Series X, i bought Radiant Silvergun, guess what, the free games for next month came out and from January 1-15, Radiant Silvergun is free, after that it's Space Invaders:Infinity Gene which is cool too, the other two games are pretty meh though.

What's next, Ikaruga or Triggerheart Excelica for free!?

 

[Falksi]

Been playin this bad boy this past week, Gley Lancer........

Never played it before, and it took me a while to warm to it to, but now I absolutely love it.

It's definitely got it's flaws, but the game's pacing is fantastic.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Licorice I finally got around to playing the MD version of Slap Fight and it's a banger. Pretty much arcade perfect (it's got one of those huge sidebars to achieve a vertical screen ratio - or almost - but who cares) with an arrange soundtrack to boot. Truly a game for the ages.

Was it Toaplan themselves who did the port?

Falksi Gleylancer is fucking great and balls hard. It got ported recently to the Switch and it has quite decent display options. I have it on my cab, should give it a go soon. I never played it back in the day.

 

[HeatEXTEND]

Horizontal is shit